What’s Coming Up Next? – Tom Bluewater Introducing RandomKeys for Mac OS X

Mac OS X software RandomKeys

TOKYO (MacHouse) – It looks like MacUpdate has started a new marketing program. They said last month that they could sell software on behalf of app developers. Their new marketing program doesn’t quite work like Mac App Store because MacUpdate doesn’t offer a registration scheme. You still have to embed a registration system of your own in software if you want to sell your products with them. That might not suit well for some software developers including me. Yet, the revenue share is the same as Mac App Store. It’s 7 to 3. So what are advantages of their new marketing program over Mac App Store? They don’t have a review process that could sometimes take a few weeks? Well, I don’t have a problem with Mac App Store’s review process at all since my applications rarely get rejected. So I’ve asked MacUpdate, and they’ve said the following.

In terms of the MAS being a better deal, we offer several services and value adds not included by them. The main one being access to all customer information. This allows you to provide better support, as well as up-sell and cross-sell and offer upgrade pricing directly to them.

Well, I have no counter argument for that. A great advantage of selling software through Mac App Store is, again, that you don’t have to write your own registration system. So you can just concentrate on polishing software. Actually, it’s not that difficult to install a conventional activation system of your own in software. You could just write a singleton subclass to find a match over some 10,000 random activation keys stored in an encrypted built-in library. But such a measure could be a slippery slope if you continue to sell the same product at Mac App Store.

For now, I haven’t really decided whether or not I participate in MacUpdate’s new marketing program. It’s not exactly a registation scheme that I need to create that worries me. Four days ago, I received their promotional message by e-mail. The problem is that they sent it to my undisclosed PayPal e-mail address. How has my undisclosed PayPal e-mail address ended up in their hand? That really bothers me. Wouldn’t you be concerned? They have no valid explanation. So I’m still waiting for one. Meanwhile, I’ve developed a new desktop application that lets you generate a number of random activation keys. I submitted it to Mac App Store, but not to MacUpdate, a few hours ago. This new software release is called RandomKeys.

Mac software RandomKeys

Source: Tom Bluewater
  Mac software RandomKeys

Source: Tom Bluewater

RandomKeys lets you generate a number of random software activation keys. You can save an array of random keys as a text file (line by line), as a text file in the XML format, as an NSData file, as an SQLite database file.   Continue reading

What’s Coming Up Next? – Tom Bluewater Introducing Reflecta 2 for Mac OS X

Mac OS X software Reflecta 2

TOKYO (MacHouse) – Some 40 days ago, an existing application called Pict2RFL was ranked within top 100 in the U.S. under Graphics & Design category. It was quite a surprise because I didn’t even remember that it existed. It’s a desktop application that I submitted to Mac App Store two years and a half ago. In other words, it’s old. Using it to create screenshots for MiPatterns, I thought I could make some improvements. And that’s how I’ve come up with Reflecta 2. Reflecta 2 is a successor to Pict2RFL that I submitted to Mac App Store a few hours ago. It is a desktop application that lets you easily add a mirror image to a picture.  Continue reading

What’s Coming Up Next? – Tom Bluewater Introducing Showcase 123D for Mac OS X

Mac OS X software Showcase 123D

TOKYO (MacHouse) – I used to use Maxon‘s Cinema 4D just in order to turn application screenshots into nice pictures so that I could post them at Mac App Store. Cinema 4D is a great application. It’s quite expensive and difficult to learn how to use, though. I don’t think I even know how to use it any more. Well, I have a better idea. How about developing a new application like it? Maybe not… It could take me years to develop something like it. Yet, I’ve managed to submit a new desktop application similar to Cinema 4D at the slightest level to Mac App Store a few hours ago. This new release is called Showcase 123D.

Mac software Showcase 123D

Tom Bluewater
  Mac software Showcase 123D

Tom Bluewater

Showcase 123D lets you easily turn a simple picture into a box with the image at front. Drag and drop one or more pictures directly onto the scene canvas. Give a picture in the list a depth. Then rotate the picture box about the X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis. A 3D application can be any easier than Showcase 123D. Use the light source effectively to shed a light on picture objects. Use or not use the floor to show reflections of picture objects. These features are all made possible by the SceneKit framework.   Continue reading

What’s Coming Up Next? – Tom Bluewater Introducing 安かろう for iOS

Mac OS X software 安かろう

TOKYO (MacHouse) – 個人的の話で失礼しますが、同居していた母が急に他界してそろそろ15ヶ月が経とうとします。以前、10年ぐらい海外で生活していて、その時に自炊もやっていましが、また自炊を始めなければならない、ということを全く予想していませんでした。そして自炊を初めて約10ヶ月経った頃に薬局のCREATEに立ち寄り、目に触れたのが80g入りの鰹節です。値段は288円です。丁度豆腐を食べようと思っていたんだと思います。確か9月31ぐらいまで幾ら、という期限の値札がついていたので、これは安いうち買ったほうがいいと思いました。その数週間後に今度はタイガというスーパーで似たような80gの鰹節が何と198円で売られていました。何と以前のものと比べて1袋90円も安いなんて。食料品の買い物も、すぐに何でも買わずに、色々チラシも見ながら値段を覚えておかないと、結構損をすることもあるんですね。
 さて自分は通常デスクトップ用のアプリケーションを作って、それらをMac App Storeで販売していますが、前述の話を教訓に何かiOS用のアプリを作れないか、とこの数ヶ月考えていました。iOS用のアプリで食料品の値段を管理するにも、問題は情報の入力ですね。製品の名前や製造元の名前、価格、数量など、入力しなければならない不可欠な項目が結構あり、それも商品ごとに写真を添付するとなると、果たして簡単にユーザーが入力できるiOS用のアプリを作れるのだろうか、と考えていました。そこで思いついたのが、この際、データをアプリに同梱することです。そしてやっと出来上がったのが「安かろう」という製品です。

iOS 安かろう

Source: Tom Bluewater
  iOS 安かろう

Source: Tom Bluewater

 「安かろう」というのは日本在住の方々だけのためだけに特別に開発したiOS用のアプリです。これは毎週3度も4度も食料品の買い物をする中、一円でも節約したいという方々のために作った無料の製品です。「安かろう」には既に700以上の食品及び飲料品のデータが登録されています。もちろん自分で商品の情報を新しく加えることも可能です。
 さてこの製品をどのように使って欲しいかと言うと、まずよく買い物をする店の名前の入力です。「安かろう」には店の名前のデータまでは登録していないので、自分でCREATEなり、タイガなり、マルエツなり、何でも、幾つでも登録してください。次に商品を閲覧し、特定の物を選択します。すると商品の情報があらわれるので、ここにある緑の背景色の参考価格を基準に、自分がよく買い物をする店での対象となる商品の値段を入力します。そうするとある商品に対してそれをどこで買ったほうが一番安いのかがわかるはずです。
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